Sarah Ferguson Reportedly 'Humiliated' Living Like a Peasant After Royal Ousting

When Sarah Ferguson married into the British royal family decades ago, she could scarcely have imagined the life-altering reversal of fortune that awaited her in her later years. Once celebrated for her infectious warmth and relatability — qualities that made her arguably the most beloved royal of her era — the Duchess of York now finds herself navigating an entirely different existence. What unfolded in the autumn of 2024 amounted to a remarkable and devastating fall from grace, one that has forced the 66-year-old to confront a future for which she insists she was wholly unprepared.

The transformation began innocuously enough. Ferguson and her ex-husband, Andrew, had settled comfortably into the Royal Lodge, a sprawling 100-acre estate nestled within the grounds of Windsor Castle, where they had resided contentedly for nearly two decades. The 12-bedroom mansion, gifted to them by the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present, represented everything their life together had offered: unparalleled luxury, staff attending to their every need, and a security that seemed, to them at least, eternal.

The Cost of Proximity to Controversy

Her fall from grace accelerated dramatically when The Mail on Sunday published a 2011 email that would prove impossible to escape. In the correspondence, Ferguson had referred to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a 'supreme friend' — an extraordinarily ill-judged description given what would later emerge about Epstein's criminal activities. The email also contained an apology in which Ferguson 'humbly' sought Epstein's understanding after she had publicly distanced herself from him weeks earlier. A spokesman subsequently explained that the apology was written after Epstein threatened to sue her for defamation.

The consequences were swift and unforgiving. By September 2024, Ferguson found herself dismissed from her television roles on Loose Women and This Morning, dropped from charitable organisations, and stripped — along with Prince Andrew — of their duke and duchess titles. What followed in October rendered their situation even more dire: they were evicted from Royal Lodge.

For Ferguson and Andrew, the reversal felt particularly brutal. They contended that Prince William had encouraged King Charles III to take this action, and sources close to the former duchess suggest she believes her ex-husband's brother has acted with unwarranted severity. An insider revealed that Ferguson feels the decision to strip Andrew of his 'birthright' represents precisely what their late mother-in-law would never have sanctioned. 'To strip away Andrew's birthright and toss him out feels unfair,' the source explained, whilst Andrew himself, reportedly incensed, claimed this outcome contradicted what Queen Elizabeth would have wanted.

From Windsor Castle to an Uncertain Tomorrow

The adjustment has proven profoundly disorienting. Sources indicate that Ferguson feels 'humiliated beyond belief' at having transitioned 'almost overnight' from what she considers a 'wonderful regal lifestyle' to, as one insider put it, 'living like a common peasant'. The shift represents not merely a change in circumstances but a fundamental upheaval of the identity and security she had constructed over decades.

During her years at Royal Lodge, Ferguson had maintained spending habits befitting her station. She allocated $18,000 monthly for wine alone and spent $132,000 annually on clothing. A newspaper article reported that her annual expenditure on staff, gifts, flowers, parties and shopping exceeded $1 million. Yet this lavish existence was enabled entirely by her royal connection — a connection now severed.

In desperation, Ferguson has begun considering relocation to Portugal, where her daughter Princess Eugenie lives part-time with her husband, Jack Brooksbank. Yet her daughters find themselves in an acutely awkward position. Both Eugenie and Beatrice, who narrowly avoided losing their titles amid the Epstein scandal fallout, have been invited to Princess Kate's Together at Christmas Carol Service — a privilege their parents no longer enjoy. The sisters, it appears, are maintaining cordial but deliberately distant relationships with their parents.

This situation reflects a broader pattern in Ferguson's life: her chronic financial struggles. Author Andrew Lownie, in Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, documented how Queen Elizabeth II was forced to pay off hundreds of thousands of pounds in debt incurred by Ferguson's extravagant spending. One friend reportedly threatened legal action after Ferguson repaid only £5,000 of a £100,000 loan for a South of France holiday. In 2010, Ferguson was exposed attempting to sell access to Prince Andrew to an undercover News of the World reporter for £580,000.

The woman once described as possessing irrepressible charm and approachability now confronts a reality she never anticipated: the necessity of financial self-sufficiency. A source close to Ferguson articulated this plainly: 'Sarah's set-up at Royal Lodge was ideal and she thought she'd be there until she died. She didn't anticipate having to pay bills at this stage in life and she has no prospects. She's not prepared'.